The next Mega Millions drawing, with an estimated $1.15 billion jackpot, will be held on December 27th. Scott Olson/Getty Images Hide Caption
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Scott Olson/Getty Images
Those hoping for an early gift on Christmas Eve may have been disappointed when they didn’t win the Mega Millions jackpot ticket. But now the prize has increased to an estimated $1.15 billion, which Mega Millions says could be the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history.
“We understand that many people will likely receive tickets for Friday’s drawing as a holiday gift, but if they end up with a ticket worth $1.15 billion,” Mega Millions lead director Joshua Johnston said in a statement. What a wonderful gift it would be to win a ticket worth the jackpot.” the consortium said in an online statement.
Tickets will be sold for $2 each, and the company says half of the proceeds from each ticket sale will remain in the state where the ticket was sold.
The company also said that to date in 2024, the Mega Millions jackpot has only been won three times.
The highest Mega Millions jackpot ever won was $1.6 billion in 2023. The winning ticket was sold in Florida.
According to Mega Millions, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. According to the National Weather Service, your chance of being struck by lightning in your lifetime is 1 in 15,300.
